Star Light
by BigBossofMoss
Summary: An astronomy nerd, having a mysterious nightmare for the last few months, joins the Hero Course to hone his quirk, understand his nightmare, and embark on his journey of high school at UA. Rated M to have creative freedom.
1. Nightmares

" _3...2...1...we have liftoff!"_

A spaceship gains speed as it fired itself into the sky. A lone young man is strapped in the cockpit, looking up at the sky through the footlong windshield of his spacecraft. Although his body was buckled in tight to his seat, his legs trembled nervously as he went higher and higher into the sky.

" _Sutaraito, your heartbeat's racing, what's your status?"_

"Oh it's nothing, just holding onto dear life while riding a mechanism going past the speed of sound that I'm not even controlling," the young man replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

The voice on the other end chuckled. _"The kid seems fine to me."_

The boy, Niko Sutaraito, tuned out the other voices from mission control and focused just on the view in front of him. The blue sky and white clouds gave away to the cold blackness of space with sprinkles of stars as far as the eye can see.

Suddenly the ship started trembling and the master alarm in the cockpit began to wail.

" _Sutaraito! Respond!"_

Niko, in a panic, tried to yank himself out of his confides as the felt the cockpit grow warmer and the windshield crack.

" _SUTARAITO! PLEASE RESPOND!"_

Fire began to engulf the cockpit and in a panic, Niko took off his bulky space suit glove. He pointed at many straps and a focused beam of yellow light shot out, severing his many seat belts and freeing him.

His body jerked backward from the amount of G force, flying back and hitting the back of the cockpit, stuck in place as more fire engulfed the cockpit. Niko closed his eyes, knowing his end was at hand before bright white light emitted from his body.

* * *

Niko woke up in a panic, looking around his room. Decorated posters of planets and stars covered everything. He took a deep breath. The same nightmare plaguing him for months; he had to have on today of all days?

He looked over to clock on dresser. 6:50am. Shit. He overslept!

He ran downstairs, quickly buttoning his old school uniform, to see his Mom cooking breakfast. "Hey, Mo-ah!" Niko fell to the floor, tripping on his shoe laces.

She laughed. "I don't think the people of UA would let a student in if they still don't know how to tie their shoes yet."

Niko tied his loose laces and got to his feet. "No, it's just...I'm…" He stopped himself as he looked at his mother's face. She looked back at him, overjoyed. He knew why.

"I can't believe you're actually applying for the Hero Course at UA. Please eat something and don't forget to drink plenty of water."

He smiled at his Mom's enthusiasm. He sat down at the table and began to eat. His eyes glanced over to the empty chair to his right. "Where's Tsurigaru?"

"Still sleeping. You know her. If she doesn't need to be up early, she sleeps in."

Niko nodded. It was true that the UA test was on a Saturday, he at least thought his younger sister would just be up to wish him luck before he left. Especially since she was the only one who knows why he changed his mind to apply for the Hero Course instead of the Support course.

He finished eating and gave his Mom a hug and kiss goodbye. "Alright, I'm off."

His Mom held him a lot longer than he thought she would. "Just know...no matter what happens, I'm really proud of you for doing this."

He swallowed hard. "Thanks, I uh...gotta get going." As he grabbed his bag and made for the door, he heard his mom yell.

"Do you have your leaded gloves!?"

"Yes, Mom!"

"And spare bottles of water?!"

"...Yes, Mom!"

"Okay...Good luck, Niko, my little starlight."

Even with no one around, Niko visibly shivered at his Mom's embarrassing nickname for him as he walked to the train station.

* * *

Niko sat on the crowded train, watching people exit and enter. He was mentally relieved it was a Saturday, the train wasn't as crowded. This allowed him to get lost in this thoughts and the nightmare he had been having for last couple of months.

" _This dream...flying on a rocket that always explodes as I exit the atmosphere. And that white light that surrounds me all before I wake up."_

He looked down at his olive colored hands. This dream...the white light. The logical part of his brain told him it was probably from the explosion of the space ship but deep down, he felt that it might be…

The train stopped and Niko looked back up to see more people get off and kids his age get on. It made sense, a lot of these people probably were also applying to get into UA.

"Is this seat taken?"

Niko glanced to his left to see a plain looking kid with green hair and freckles. "No, please, sit."

"Thanks."

The kid sat down and took out a burnt up journal. Niko went to look back at his hands. They began to illuminate with yellow light.

"Wow...is that your Quirk?"

Niko looked back at the kid and realized he was staring at his hands intently. Not used to this much attention, he stuttered a bit, "Oh...um...yeah. I can radiate and focus light."

The kid furiously began scribbling in his notebook and muttering. "Radiate light, that seems to be a strong quirk…"

The kid kept muttering to himself and in a weird way, put Niko at ease. He smiled. "I can also see and shoot infrared and ultraviolet light. My eyes change depending on what light I shine out of my hands. However…"

"However?"

Niko reached into his bag and took out a bottle of water. He took a snip and continued. "It's a sort of glass cannon. If I don't consume enough water, I can run out of energy and collapse."

"Like an actual star?"

Niko nodded. He didn't know why I told this stranger about his quirk. He rarely was this talkative. Maybe it was because of that kid's interest in his power. He had caught a glimpse of other pages in his notebook and saw notes on the many Pro Heroes that work in and around here.

As he continued to think about it, Niko was bombarded by the muttering of the kid, talking about his quirk and all the different kinds of possibilities of using his quirk, Star Light. He decided to interrupt his mutters. "Hey are you heading to UA to apply for the Hero course too."

The green haired kid tensed up. "O-oh. Y-yes, yes I am."

"Well since I told you mine, what can you do?"

The green haired kid froze.

Niko noticed this. "You okay?"

The green haired kid opened his mouth to respond by was interrupted by the train loudspeaker.

 _Arriving at Tattoin Station! All students applying for UA High School please disembark here._

The green haired kid put his notebook in his bag. "Well it was nice to meet you. I hope to see you inside when we get there. I'm Midoriya, Izuku." Midoriya held out his hand.

Niko reached out and shook it. "Sutaraito, Niko."

Niko watched as Midoriya ran out of the train, ahead of everyone else as he himself gathered his belongings as well. He exited the train and straight ahead of him, on top of a hill, stood the fabled UA High School, the most prestigious Hero school in all of Japan.

"Hey! What the hell were you talking to Deku for?!"

Niko turned around to see a blonde headed kid with sharp eyes. "Deku...you mean that green haired kid?"

"Yeah, him. I can't believe they're actually letting a quirkless failure like him even apply to this school. Makes me sick!"

Niko paused. Quirkless? That could explain why Midoriya was so hesitate to share what he can do if the fact was he...couldn't do anything.

The blonde haired kid walked past him. "I can't wait to see him fail hard, trying to get into this place. Should make it all the better once I get into the Hero course."

Niko just watched as this rude kid walked towards UA. Maybe the two of them had some kind of rivalry or something. It would be strange if they did; according that rude blonde headed kid, he was quirkless.

* * *

Niko sat in the exam room and watched as all the people applying to get into to the school found their seats. The stress of getting into UA finally started to hit him. He took a deep breath. "Only 1 in 300, huh?"

"Is this seat taken?"

Niko looked up to see pink girl with yellow eyes. "Uh, no."

She sat down on his right. "Oooh, I'm so nervous! I'm not a good test taker."

Niko shrugged his shoulders. "It's no big deal as long as you have a basic understanding of hero work and overall good school grades."

The pink girl was silent.

Niko looked uncomfortable. "Oh, well...uh, don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine."

She smiled. "Thanks. I'm Mina Ashido."

"Niko Sutaraito."

Before the both of them knew it, one of the teachers, Present Mic, began speaking. He was describing the practical portion of the test, how they would be fighting robots with point values assigned to them based on their size.

Ashido looked excited. "Yes! This is where I'll excel if I don't do good on the written portion."

Niko looked intrigued. "You must have a strong quirk if you're that confident."

She nodded. "I can shoot acid. Since the targets are just robots, I don't have to hold back."

Niko agreed. "That's true. I don't have to either in that case."

Ashido also got curious. "Ooooh, what's your quirk-"

"AND ALSO YOU, THE PINK GIRL!"

Both Niko and Ashido glanced towards a young man their age with black hair and glasses. He glared at her. "You are being too loud and I would like to ask you be quiet while we all take our exams here. If you can't be quiet than you can also go home!"

He sat back down and Niko glanced over to Ashido who crossed her arms and pouted. The two of them kept quiet for the remainder of the time as Present Mic explained the rules to the practical exam. As soon as he was finished, the written exams were passed out and Niko took another deep breath before starting the examination.

* * *

Following his examination card, Niko went to the Battle Center he was assigned to, Battle Center E.

He found a crowd of people gathered around the entrance to the Battle Center and ran his fingers through his black hair. "Okay, this is it."

The practical portion of the UA exam. The part of the exam he was mostly not prepared for. He glanced around and saw kids in way better shape than his lanky frame. Standing at 168 cm, he was taller than the average person here, but weighing in at just 54 kg, he suddenly felt very self conscious.

" _Right, let's start!"_

Huh.

The doors to Battle Center E opened instantly and everyone flooded in. His leaded gloves on, Niko ran forward with the crowd of applicat heroes, into the mock city.

 **BigBossofMoss: Hey, wow. I have not written anything for this site in years. Idk what it was but I had to urge to write something when I was injured months ago and watched MHA as I recovered. I fell in love with this show and I got ideas for my own original character. He replaces another character in Class 1A, Yuga Aoyama since he really doesn't do much in my opinion. I hope you enjoy this story which is from told mostly from the perspective of my OC.**

 **Please review.**


	2. Stubborn Drive

**BigBossofMoss: Well, I had a few people check out this story. I hope to keep you all interested. :)**

* * *

Niko took off running into the Battle Center. He had to be quick and immediate. With this many people looking for robots to destroy, at least half of them won't break the double digit mark.

He clenched his fists. His leaded gloves felt like shackles, weighing him down as more and more people got ahead of him. Of course, not being the most athletic boy in junior high also factored into this.

 _"TARGET AQUIRED!"_

One of the smaller robots, the one pointer he remembered Present Mic speaking of, rolled in from a narrow alley to his left. He brought his hands up, feeling a rush of energy shoot through his arm before escaping out of his open palm.

 _PEW!_

The yellow light took the robot's head clean off.

"Heh, nice shot."

Niko turned around to see a lanky boy, not unlike himself, give him a thumbs up before he stuck his elbow out. Thick tape shot out and attached itself to the apartment building in front of them. The tape boy launched himself up and over the building. It took a moment for Niko to realized what he was doing.

" _He's surveying the cityscape for targets. Wait! He's not the only one who can do that!"_

Niko closed his eyes as his yellow glowing hands dimmed. A second later, they shined again but with red light instead of yellow. He opened his eyes, infrared light welling inside of him now, his irises bloody in color.

It was as if he gained a sixth sense.

He had vision of not only the heat signatures of all the robots but all the participates as well.

 _"It almost feels like cheating."_

But that's what this test was all about. UA was making all of the applicants use their quirks to the fullest if they wanted to become Pro Heroes.

Niko ran down the abandoned alleyway where the one pointer robot came from. He could see a massive cloud that was slowly separating as it moved towards the city center. Present Mic's voice interrupted his thoughts.

" _Six minutes remaining!"_

He had to act quickly!

He saw a lone cloud speck up ahead. He closed his fist and aimed it at the robot.

 _PEEEEEW!_

Red light rushed forward from afar but still hit it's target. A three pointer! Four points now.

"Whoa! What was that?! I was just about to destroy that one."

He recognized that voice.

Niko ran towards the wreckage he just made to see the pink girl with the yellow eyes from the written exam. She was on the ground, rubbing her head.

His stomach dropped. He could have been disqualified if he hit her with that blast."I'm sorry. Are ya hurt?" He put his hand out.

Ashido glanced up. "Hey, it's you." She took his hand and got to her feet. "No, I'm fine. I was surprised by the force of that explosion."

Niko exhaled. "Really, that's good." He glanced behind and his stomach dropped. He saw five melted robots.

Ashido smiled. "I'd like to boast about my handy work but I gotta go get more than ten points if I wanna pass! See ya, Sutaraito!"

That got his head back in the game. Even with his sight advantage, he was still behind.

Niko tried to follow her but was outclassed by her superior physical abilities as she outran him before shooting forward on some kind of makeshift acid roller skates. She turned the corner and Niko had to stop to catch his breath. Luckily for him, she went in the opposite direction of that mass cloud of exhaust he was seeing.

So he pressed on.

Along the way, he destroyed stray robots as they patrolled the empty back alleys.

6 points.

9 points.

11 points.

12 points.

Present Mic's voice boomed. _"Four minutes remaining!"_

Not much time left. But it would all be worth it. He was almost to that big cloud of robots.

Niko turned the corner, leading him back to the main road and his eyes widened. The massive cloud of little robots he thought he was chasing towards...was masked by his limited infrared vision.

He closed his eyes and his red iris' changed back to yellow. With his regular vision returned, he saw a gigantic mechanical behemoth, it's large hands grasping the buildings on the main street around it. The other, smaller robots sped down the main street towards him and out of the corner of his eye, he saw other applicants arrive.

The larger robot stepped forward.

 _Boom!_

The ground shook, causing him and those nearby him to flounder and fall. This being...really was an obstacle. Even so, he had to make the most of this.

 _Pew!_

 _Pew! Pew!_

 _Pew!_

15...16...19...21 points.

 _Boom._

The robot crept forward, causing him to fall over again. It was getting closer.

But even still, more robots poured past the larger one and towards his target view. Other applicants began to run away in panic, fearing for their safety. Niko, stubborn as he was, didn't move a muscle.

" _Gawds, you stay rooted more than I do and I'm part tree!"_

His sister, Tsurigaru's voice echoed in his head.

He continued firing.

 _Pew! Pew!_

 _Pew!_

 _Pew!_

33...35...38...39 points.

 _BOOM!_

He didn't even bother getting up but even in his adrenaline-like state, he knew he was in real danger. The zero point giant was now in striking distance to hit him. But he couldn't give up. He stayed, planted his feet, and kept on firing laser after laser after laser at the endless supply of robots he saw flanking it.

55...56...59...60-

The giant mech raised it's fist and swung it straight down.

In a panic, Niko's eyes flashed purple as he put his palms together. Suddenly, he felt something coil around him and his entire body jerked back.

 _KABOOM!_

Concrete and asphalt flew up into the air where the giant mech's fist landed. Niko looked down at his chest to see white tape wrapped around him.

"Laser hands, are you okay!? You almost got turned into a mash potatoes!"

Niko looked up. It was that lanky kid with the tape. He pulled him away at the last possible second.

"Yeah...the risk was worth it." He got up to his feet. "Thank you...eh…"

The lanky kid smiled, showing off very large looking teeth. "Hanta Sero."

" _One minute left!"_

Present Mic jolted the two of them back to alertness. Sero looked anxious. "Shit shit shit! I only have twenty-six points!" He left abruptly, swinging back up on top of one of the large buildings that wasn't damaged and disappeared out of sight.

Niko looked on at where he left. He couldn't help but feel guilty for the guy who sacrificed precsious time to save him. He would have to say something later.

"Heeey! Sutaraito!"

Niko turned around to see Ashido, slowing up as she skated up to him. He stepped out of the way, acid from her feet splashing only centimeters from him.

"Oops...sorry about that." She said, nervously. "But I saw what you did! That took a lot of balls."

Niko grew lightheaded. This cute girl was congratulating him? That's never happened before. He stuttered out a reply. "Oh...well...t-thank y-y-you…"

 _"Help!"_

Both Niko and Ashido turned around towards the sound of that voice. It sounded like a girl. The two of them kept looking. Ashido turned to him. "Do you see her?"

"Not yet." He closed and opened his eyes. He could see a different heat signature that was cooler than the exhaust from the robots. "There! Follow me!"

Ashido followed Niko, the two of them keeping low to avoid being seen by the giant robot. He turned to Ashido. "She's gonna be just over this pile of rubble. First we'll-"

Niko froze. Her leg was pinned under a small, one point robot, Niko gulped as he "saw" her.

This girl was completely naked!

He immediately turned his infrared vision off. His respect for her won out against his teenage curiosity.

Ashido kept looking around. "I still don't see anyone."

"Down here. I'm invisible."

Niko had to will his feet to move. He jumped down near one end of the robot. "You're stronger than me, help me lift this." Ashido nodded, following him, and the two of them slowly lifted the heavy robot off of the invisible girl's leg.

Niko saw dust and debris float up before immediately falling down, off the this transparent person. "I'm free."

Both of them let go and the robot dropped with a thud. Ashido then turned towards where she thought the invisible girl was standing. "Are you hurt? Are you alright?"

"Just a bit banged up. Thank you, both you."

" _IT'S ALL OVER!"_

The three of them looked up at the sky. So that was it.

Ashido smiled. "Well I think I did pretty good." She looked back. "Can you walk?"

Though they couldn't see it, the invisible girl nodded. "Yes. Thank you both for saving me. I'm Toru Hagakure."

The three of them walked back towards the entrance of the Battle Center, the two girls chatting while Niko walked besides the two of them silently, feeling a little more than flustered in more ways than one.

* * *

The next week crawled by.

Niko was on edge the entire time making concentrating on anything a luxury. He sat on his knees, in his usual spot by his bedroom window with his father's telescope. Even one of his favorite hobbies...gazing at the sea of stars in the night sky couldn't erase his apprehension.

" _I feel like I did pretty good. The written exam wasn't too bad. And sixty points in the practical was good...wasn't it?_

In all the excitment of the end of the practical exam, he forgot to ask everyone else's scores. So he didn't have anything to compare his too.

He heard his bedroom door open. "You're even more gloomier than usual. Emotionally speaking not literally."

Niko looked back to see his younger sister standing in the doorway in her pajamas. She looked smug. He just stared at her. "You know why I'm like this. So why don't you make like a-"

"DON'T SAY IT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" She closed her black eyes and her branch-like arms covered her ears.

Her reaction brought a smile to his face for the first time all day. Oh how he loved making that joke, no matter how unfunny it was in this day and age. He then noticed she was holding something. "What's that?"

She hid whatever it was behind her back. "...Nothing."

Niko stood up. "Ru."

Tsurigaru let up. "Alright, jeez. Maybe after you open this, you'll lighten up with that attitude of yours." Without walking closer, her arm extended towards him, offering up a letter.

Niko's eyes flashed. His UA letter!

He took it and just held in his hands for a moment without saying anything. Tsurigaru pouted. "Are you just gonna look at that envelope? Open it!"

He gripped the letter tightly. "Thank you, Ru. Can you...can you just...give me a moment?"

Tsurigaru's demeanor softened and she nodded. "Just remember...even if you don't get in, you can figure out the origin of your nightmares some other way."

She slowly closed the door.

Niko remained still, holding his letter. That was the whole reason he even applied for the Hero Course. His constant nightmares...it was as if his own Quirk was telling him how to understand what was happening to him night after night.

" _How...illogical that sounds. Then again, Quirks themselves don't follow logic."_

He ripped open his letter and a heavy disc fell to the floor. White light emitted from it.

" _I AM HERE!"_

A projection of All Might, the world's #1 hero in a strangely looking bumblebee suit greeted him.

Niko was floored. "'THE' All Might!?"

All Might spoke loudly with his trademark smile. _"Welcome young...uh…"_ The image of All Might looked off to the distance. _"...Sutaraito! Yes, let me be pleased to say thank you for applying to UA. Your tenacity and stubborness I might add, is why I'm speaking with you today...er, relatively of course."_

Niko shifted uncomfortably. "...I'm not...THAT stubborn."

All Might continued. _"The entrance exams at UA only accept the best of the best. On average, only 1 in 300 applicants are chosen each year."_

Niko stopped breathing. He knew that. And yet he still applied. Because he wanted to learn from the best of the best.

" _But worry not! You had a score of 87% on the written exam and for the practical... 61 villain points and 10 rescue points. For better or worse, you stood your ground when your fellow applicants turn and retreated. A true hero never backs down from a challenge. And not only that, but you also proved you are hero material when you rescued young Hagakure right before the exam ended."_

"Rescue points...I imagine that tape guy...Sero, he probably got a bunch from saving me from the giant mech."

All Might put his hand forward. " _You passed both exams. And you have now joined the best of the best! Niko Sutaraito...welcome, to your Hero Academia!"_

* * *

 **BigBossofMoss: Although Niko has a powerful quirk, I'm trying to emphasis key limitations with it as well. Like when he uses infrared light to see heat signatures. Please review.**


	3. First Impressions

**BigBossofMoss: Well I got some follows and favs from this story already. Thanks to everyone who did that. Enjoy this next chapter.**

* * *

Dawn's light had barely broken through the dark blue sky. He couldn't sleep. On and off, he woke up throughout the night. Surprisingly, it wasn't the nightmare that continually plagued him for the last few months. No, it was something much more grounded in reality. Something everyone faced eventually for the first time.

Their first day of high school.

He put on his white dress shirt. His mind raced.

What would the typical Hero course consist of?

He put on his black pants, tucking his shirt in.

He was a fairly good student when it came basic subjects. But his physical education, as demonstrated in the practical test, was definitely not the greatest compared to other students, not counting actual athletes and heroes.

He put on his tie, fidgeting with it. It took a couple of tries to at least make it look presentable.

Other students. He sighed. He was not the most...social person either. Spending most of junior high with his eyes on the night sky was not the most popular hobby, not the mention, taking care of Tsurigaru after school when both of their parents were at work.

He put his gray UA blazer on.

He did make conversation with a couple of people during the entrance exams, albet, by just responding naturally to whatever they said. Was that really how socializing worked?

Niko scrunched his fingers. "I guess I have no choice in the matter now. I'll be training to be a hero."

He went downstairs to see his mom pouring herself tea. He almost forgot he ended up getting up an hour before his alarm would even ring. That's insomia for ya.

She yawned watching him at the base of the stairs. "Niko? What are you doing up?"

He was honest. "Couldn't really sleep. Anxious I guess."

"Are you leaving now? This early?"

He nodded.

Though she was still half asleep, she beamed. "To think you're in UA, I wish your father was here to see this." She got up and hugged him.

Niko wrapped his arms around her. "I know...I miss him too."

She didn't let go of him. She just whispered into his ear. "Please, just remember your limits and take care of yourself."

Niko swallowed. "I will."

* * *

The sun was up by the time he made it to UA. He walked down the hallways of a building who's outside walls were just giant glass windows where the morning sun was shining through.

He was early. Glancing around him, only a few students were walking around, trying to find their classes. He saw someone who he assumed was a boy in his second or third year from a crowd. "Excuse me. Do you know where classroom 1-A is?"

The older boy turned around, looking surprised. "Are you in class 1-A too?"

Niko stared at him for a second. He was the guy who yelled at Ashido for talking too loud at the written exam. "Yeah, just having troubling finding the classroom."

"Well say no more! As a fellow UA student, it's my job to assist others to the best my abilities. Follow me!"

Niko followed him, a bit overwhelmed by his overzealous personality. A factor in his upbringing? Though that attitude would make him a great hero in the future.

"Here we are!" Niko looked up to see a giangantic door. He turned to the overzealous boy.

"Thank you. I'm not good with directions first time around. Niko Sutaraito."

He shakes Niko's hand. "Tenya Iida. I was getting a feel for the school myself. UA is a pretty big campus after-what do you think you're doing!?"

Niko blinked and turned towards the inside of the classroom. There were a couple of people inside already. A big guy with six arms, a little kid with black, bubbly hair who was staring at this older looking girl with...large assets. But the person Iida was yelling at was this blonde boy with is feet up on the desk in front of him.

Niko recognized that kid from the train to the school on the entrance exam day. He watched as Iida began lecturing him on the fine point of respecting the academic furniture. The blonde boy retorted with an a series of insults at the overzealous boy. Niko decided to tune both boys out and took his seat right by the door. Seat number one.

It was then he saw another familiar face. "Heeey! Speak of the devil! I told you he'd get in the same class with us, Tsu."

"I never specifically stated that I doubted you."

Ashido ignored her as Niko took his seat. He glanced around to see Mina Ashido talking with a girl who looked like a frog and a floating school uniform. _"Must be that invisible girl that we saved from the practical...Hagakure I think her name was. At least she's clothed this time."_

He cleared his throat. "I..erm, didn't know I was famous."

Hagakure leaned forward. "You should be famous. I saw you taking out robot after robot in the practical exam with that laser Quirk of yours! Even in the face of that giant mech."

The frog girl put a finger to her mouth. "But weren't you also saying how dangerous it was for him to stand still while the giant mech was walking towards him."

He heated up at that comment. Not one of his brighter moments to be sure. "W-well, with a quirk like mine, I don't often get to use it that often. I got caught up in the moment, I guess."

"Oh I can relate to that." Ashido replied. "My Quirk can be just as destructive if I'm not careful." She turned to her side. "Btw, this Tsuyu Asui."

"Pleased to meet you. And please, call me Tsu."

He shook her hand. "Likewise." Niko turned to the invisible girl. "It's also good to see you too, Hagakure. How's your leg doing?"

"Oh I'm fine. I can't believe we all made it into the Hero Program!"

"I SHOULD BLOW YOU TO BITS, ELITIST!"

All four of them turned to the direction of the blonde boy arguing with Iida. The poor boy was not prepared to deal with his fiery personality.

Tsu ribbited. "Yes, I can't believe how all of us made it into the Hero Program."

Niko blinked as they continued to watch the exchange between the two boys. "Though to be said, being a hero requires a person to have a certain level of...erm...passion, I guess."

Hagakure giggled and Ashido rolled her eyes. "That's putting it mildly."

Tsu continued to watch as Iida walked towards a plain looking boy. Niko also recognized that boy that he sat next to on the train before the entrance exams, Midoriya. Tsu spoke up. "I think it is also important to be able to be calm enough to make rational decisions as well."

"Well we live in a world where you can be both." Niko replied. Midoriya seemed to be avoiding Iida's praising on something that must have happened in their exam location. He remembered that the blonde boy was berating him for being quirkless. How did he pass the practical exam then? Did he have a quirk after all?

Ashido put her hands on her hips. "Well look at Mr. Retrospective here. You sure seem like you know a thing or two, though looking back during the written exam, you sure seemed calmer than most of the people there."

Niko looked sheepish. "It helps that I hit the books out of habit for the last few years."

"How dull! With a quirk like that!"

He nervously laughed.

"If you're here to socialize than get out."

Everyone grew silent and they all turned to see a talking sleeping bag on its side on the floor. Upon closer inspection, a gruff looking man looked at all of them as he sipped on what looked like a packet of protein goop.

Ashido's eye twitched. "There's someone...IN THERE!?"

Everyone took their seats as the man in the sleeping bag got up. He unzipped himself and out came a haggered looking individual. Long black hair, unkempt facial fur, and strained red eyes that gave the impression that this man never rested. Or at least, one would believe if the class didn't see him emerge out of a sleeping bag.

He took a long look at the class. "It took you eight seconds for you to quiet down." He walked to the front of the class, reaching behind his desk and he pulled out a box of gym clothes. "I'm your Homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. Pleased to meet you."

" _Homeroom teacher. This man?"_ Niko thought as Mr. Aizawa handed him a set of gym clothes wrapped in plastic.

"Change into your gym clothes and head out to the grounds. Locker rooms are the last two rooms at the end of the hall to the left."

And with that, Mr. Aizawa left the room. Everyone else got up and walked over to the locker rooms.

* * *

"Hey! Laser hands! You made it in too?"

Niko finished putting on his shirt and turned to see the goofy smile of Sero walking towards him. He smiled. "Yeah. By the way, thanks again for helping me during the practical. Kinda got-"

Sero stopped him by putting his hand up. "Don't worry about it man. Just doing what heroes do, right? Saving people."

Niko shrugged. "More or less. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. Niko Sutaraito."

"Hanta Sero but you know that already." He scratched his face nervously.

"Laser hands? I think his nickname should be woman attracter!" Niko looked down to see that short, blob haired kid from before. "I'm Minoru Mineta. You gotta tell me, man to man, how the hell did you end up getting to know half of the girls in class before the first bell even rang?"

"Eh, well…"

Sero glanced at Niko. "Seriously? You must have some sort of wicked charm or something. That flashy Quirk does help though. Not like mine though.

Niko closed his locker. "What? No, I think yours is pretty cool. You can transverse an area pretty easily. Almost like you are flying."

Sero sighed. "It's good for speed. But I struggled taking down those robots in the practical."

A muscular looking boy puts his hands on Sero's shoulders, surprising him. He grins. "You should focus on building your body up more. It'll help cover your weaknesses." The boy glances to Niko. "I'm Rikido Sato and looking at you too, you also might do with some more physical workouts."

The four of them exit the locker room and walk outside. They see a few students already in front of Mr. Aizawa. Niko looks at his noodle arms. "Well, maybe I should start working out a bit. Ashido left me in the dust during the practical."

"Ha! Damn right I did!"

The four boys turned towards Ashido and Hagakure who both ran up to them. "You should have seen Sutaraito trying to catch up to me. If I wasn't in a hurry to pass, he MIGHT have caught up to me. But only because I would be on the ground laughing my ass off."

Niko rolled his eyes as Mineta stared at the two girls in a very creepy manner. "Ha ha." As the six of them got closer to Mr. Aizawa, they noticed all the P.E. equipment around them. Niko suddenly got more self conscious at what they would be doing.

Mr. Aizawa scanned the entire class. "Good, now that all of you are here, we can begin the Quirk Apprehension Test."

"A test of our Quirks!?" The entire class roared.

"But...what about the Entrance Ceremony...or Guidance Sessions?" Niko glanced to his left to see a short, brunette girl with rosy cheeks.

Mr. Aizawa's face was unmoving. "No time to waste on that stuff if you wanna become heroes." He pulled out a softball and started to lecture, gently tossing it up and down. "UA is known for it's 'Freestyle' education system. That applies to the teachers as well."

Everyone in the class visibly gulped.

Mr. Aizawa continued. "Softball throwing, the standing long jump, the fifty-meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side-to-side stepping, upper body training, and the seated toe touch. All of you did these tests in junior high, yes? Your Standard No-Quirks Allowed Gym Tests?"

Realization dawned on most of the class as their scruffy teacher spoke.

"This country still insists on prohibiting Quirks when calculating averages of those records. Now that nearly 80% of the world has quirks, it's just not rational anymore."

Mr. Aizawa throws the softball towards the rude, blonde kid in their class. "Bakugo. How far was your Softball Throw in junior high?"

Bakugo blinked. "Sixty-seven meters."

"Great. Now try it with your Quirk. Give it all you got. Just don't leave the circle."

Bakugo's hands popped. "Awesome."

He stretched out his arms and cracked his neck as he stepped into the circle. He wound up his arm and out of his hand, fierce explosions came forth as he made his throw!

"DIE!"

The force of the blast caused Niko to step back and Hagakure to fall backward. The rest of the class stared at Bakugo's violent display, forgetting where the softball itself landed.

A device beeped from Mr. Aizawa's pocket. "It's important for us to know your limits." He pulled it out and looked at it before showing the class. "That's the first rational step to figuring out what kind of heroes all of you will be."

 _705.2 m_

A boy with red hair got pumped. "Wow! This is awesome! So we can use our Quirks for real!? Man, the Hero course is great!"

"Hmph. Awesome, you say, Kirishima?"

Kirishima's excitment seemed to evaporate.

"You're hoping to become Heroes here and you think it'll all be fun and games? Well, in that case, the person with the lowest score after all eight events will be judged hopeless...and be expelled."

Niko's heart sank and he could of sworn he heard a gasp come out of the quirkless boy, Midoriya. He clenched his fists. The first trial of the Hero course was upon them.

* * *

 **BigBossofMoss: Quick update. I plan to follow more of the other characters in the class more than Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka. Please review.**


	4. Quirky Test

**BigBossofMoss: These won't come out that fast starting next week. Summer classes for me. Also, I put my OC's details on my profile page if anyone's interested. My OC, plz don't steal. :P**

* * *

The short, brunette girl with the rosy cheeks spoke up again. "The lowest scorer will be expelled?! It's only the first day! I mean, even if it wasn't...that's just not fair!"

Mr. Aizawa combed his fingers through his hair. "Life's not fair, Uraraka." She looked taken aback as Mr. Aizawa continued. "Natural disasters, highway pileups, rampaging Villains. Calamity is always around the corner." He continued. "Heroes are responsible to correct all that unfairness. Use your strength to overcome all the unfairness life throws at you."

He smiled. "That's Plus Ultra."

There were no more arguments coming from the class now. Everyone was reminded why they originally applied to the Hero program in the first place. To shoulder the burdens brought on by modern society and to carry that burden for the sake of others.

* * *

The first test was the 50 meter dash. Two students would run alongside one another while a robot scored their speeds. In the interest of fairness, students were randomly picked.

Mr. Aizawa called out the first pair. "Tenya Iida and Tsuyu Asui."

Sero watched the two of them intently. "I wonder how fast they'll be with their Quirks. Can't wait to see everyone in action."

"Hmm...that's a good point. I never thought about that." Sero and Ashido looked at Niko. "Rather than go to a boring orientation, Mr. Aizawa insisted we be tested for our Quirks."

" _GO!"_

Iida and Tsu took off.

Niko continued. "These tests, are a sort of ice breaker where we show, rather than tell, what we're capable of."

Exhaust pipes extend out of Iida's calves as he runs quickly towards the finish while Tsu takes long hops with her Quirk.

" _3.04 seconds…...5.58 seconds."_

Sero was amazed. "Wow...he's fast!"

"And Tsu's time was pretty good too." Ashido added.

The three of them watched as Iida and Tsu walked back to the group, commenting on them as they walked past.

"Uraraka and Ojiro."

A blonde kid with a large tail and the rosy cheeked, brunette girl walked forward.

Sato looked over Ojiro and turns to Ashido, Sero, and Niko. "See, that's what I'm talking about. Even for his modest size, that guy is really built."

Niko nods. "Especially that tail, he must have a serious workout routine."

"Why are you guys staring at the guy when such a cutie is right there."

Mineta legs were trembling, watching Uraraka touch her clothes and shoes while Ashido was giving the little runt a death glare. "Oh man, the things I'd love to do with her, I'd-"

Mineta fell to the ground, clutching his head after getting a hit from Ashido.

" _GO!"_

Ojiro, using his tail like a spring, cleared the dash in no time at all, with Uraraka running behind, as fast as she could.

" _5.49 seconds...7.15 seconds."_

Uraraka touched her fingers together as she and Ojiro walked back. Hagakure looked confused. "You didn't use your Quirk?"

Uraraka shook her head. "I did but my Quirk isn't as flashy as the other ones. My Zero Gravity can make objects float so I took away the gravity of what I'm wearing so I could run as fast as I could."

Niko blinked. "Clever girl."

Mineta slowly got up. "Zero gravity clothes? If only her clothes floated away-"

He was on the ground again, another hit from Ashido.

Mr. Aizawa paid no attention to it. "Ashido and Sutaraito."

"Perfect." Ashido and Niko walked up towards the start line. "I can't wait to leave you in my dust again, Laser Brain." The bottoms of her shoes hissed as she got ready.

Niko kept low, his hands out behind him.

" _Go!"_

Using her Quirk, Ashido took the lead, melting the ground beneath her as she skated along the path. Niko, his hands behind him, fired off beams like rocket boosters and soon caught up with the alien girl.

His luck didn't hold as he literally tripped over the finished line, face planting on the ground.

" _5.42 seconds..5.65 seconds."_

"That was a rush…" His lungs burned and he felt a little scraped and light headed as he got to his feet.

Ashido grabbed his arm. "You alright?"

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good! Cause you ate my dust again!"

"Ashido." Both Niko and Ashido looked up to see Mr. Aizawa. "Please keep in mind that others still have to take their tests."

She looked puzzled. "Huh...What do you-ooooh…" She looked back to see the melted trail of concrete she made. She turned back towards Mr. Aizawa. "Sorry about that." She put on her cutest face in what looked like a vain attempt to avoid trouble.

Mr. Aizawa didn't look amused. "Take five everyone. I'll have to call Mr. Cementoss to repair the track."

Niko chuckled. "You weren't kidding when you said your Quirk was as destructive as mine."

She playfully punched his arm. "Oh shut up."

The students began to talk among themselves as Aizawa walked towards the melted track to inspect it. Suddenly, his smartphone, which was recording scores for the students, started to blare.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the reading. "Slightly above average radiation levels." He glances back at Ashido but focusing his gaze on Sutaraito.

* * *

Onto the next test, Grip Strength. Again, two people would go at the same time.

"Midoriya and Shoji."

Niko watched the two students walk forward. After the fifty meter dash, he had a guess about most people's Quirks in the class. Just a handful of students that he hadn't seen yet.

" _Probably because their Quirks wouldn't have really helped them in a quick run."_

Midoriya was one of the kids whose Quirk he hadn't seen yet.

Mr. Aizawa gave them a flick of his wrist and both students glanced at one another before they gripped as hard as they could.

Midoriya's unit beeped. He glanced down at it and back up, showing it off. "I-It's 56 kg."

Shoji's grip until beeped. The arm not gripping it, turned into a mouth. "540 kg, Sensi."

Sato put his hand on Sero's shoulder, nearly knocking him over. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Sero's eye twitched. "Sato...your hand...hurts."

"Huh, oh, my bad."

"Mineta and Sato."

Sato ran forward, opening up a little satchel. Mineta glanced up at him. Before he could eat, Sato, opened his hand. "Sugar cubes. My Quirk allows me to get stronger the more sugar I ingest."

Both were handed grip units as Sato's muscles visibly flexed out.

Sero was taken aback. "Jeez, I don't think I would ever catch up to him even if I went to the gym everyday for the next few years."

Mr. Aizawa nodded at both of them. Sato and Mineta gripped as hard as they could until each unit beeped.

Sato glanced down and he smirked. "210 kg. What's your grip strength, Grape Head?"

Mineta glanced down at his and his eyes widened for a second. "69 kg."

"WHAT?!" The whole class went.

Midoriya looked downcast as the two of them returned the devices to Mr. Aizawa. Ashido didn't look convinced. "How can someone with your short little body have that much strength?!"

Mineta smiled evilly. "Oh, it's simple. I've been doing vigorous grip exercises twice day for the last few years."

A boy with blonde hair with a black streak started laughing hysterically while Ashido visibly shuttered. One of the older looking girls, Yaoyorozu if Niko remembered correctly hid her head in her hands.

* * *

"DIE!"

Everyone watched as Bakugo flew right over the sandpit of the standing long jump with his explosive hands.

"He's almost like a rocket, escaping the Earth's gravitational pull."

Ashido, Sero, and Hagakure looked at Niko. "His Quirk is very versatile. Though I don't know how high he himself can really go with it."

"Hmm…" Hagakure looked like she probably had her hand on her chin. "Couldn't you do the same thing with your Quirk?"

Niko's face heated. "Um...theoretically, but I wouldn't want to try something out now if I hadn't practiced before. Especially with the risk of expulsion."

Mineta piped up. "Come on, try it. Besides…" He turned around and pointed at Midoriya. "You can't do worse than him now and only one of us is gonna go home."

Niko looked up to see Midoriya take a pitiful leap before falling down on his butt in the sand. Mr. Aizawa glanced up at him. "Sutaraito, you're up."

Niko walked up to the jumping location. He took a deep breath before he got a running start and leaped. Time seemed to slow down as he left the ground. Pointing his hands down, he fired!

 _PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!_

He launched himself ten times higher than his initial jump, his hands firing two sustained laser blasts, at the ground. His heart raced and his feet uselessly kicked as he easily cleared the end of the sandpit, and kept on going until his arms started to tremble and he started to descend. He had to be careful! He couldn't just stop firing or the fall could kill him! Gradually, he lessened the power of his blasts as he slowly made his way back to the ground, landing safely, if not a little ungracefully a full 300 meters away from the end of sandpit.

He got back up, his legs spasming but before he could do anything else, he was mobbed by nearly everyone in the class. Their voices were drown out together as they were in shock and awe of what they just witnessed.

Mr. Aizawa, in the meantime, inspected the the sandpit with his phone again, the Geiger Counter app fluctuating. He narrowed his eyes at Sutararito.

* * *

Niko bent over, gripping his knees. Sero turned around, eyes showing concern. "Hey, are you alright?"

Niko nodded. "Yeah, I just need a minute." Sero nodded and turned back around.

" _I need an hour after unleashing that much energy."_

The next event was sidestepping, seeing how many side steps a person could do in a one minute time period. Currently, the class was watching Ashido and Hagakure doing their test. Niko watched as the pink girl effortlessly stepped back and forth, making sure not to waste any energy by keeping light on her feet.

Mr. Aizawa looked down at his smartphone. "And...Time!"

Both Ashido and Hagakure stopped, the latter taking far deeper breaths than Ashido, who looked like she could do that exercise again. The two girls began to walk back to the rest of the class. Hagakure tirely looked up at her. "That was amazing. You must be some kind of gymnist or something, Mina."

Ashido grinned. "I danced in junior high and still dance a lot at home. Great cardio."

The two of them made it back to the group as Aizawa called Kaminari and Mineta over. Sero smiled at the two of them. "You did great. I don't think anyone else in the class has as great footwork as you do.

Still drained, Niko was about to comment. "Well...second best now."

Ashido turned to him and then around to what he was looking at. "Wha-" She froze as she saw Kaminari just struggling while Mineta was bouncing back and forth so fast, he was creating after images of himself to the naked eye.

Ashido was not having any it. "You damn runt! Why are you showing me up?!"

Sero and Hagakure had to hold the pink girl back from laying down a real beating on the purple haired perv.

* * *

Niko performed pretty horribly in the Side-Stepping test, barely getting half of what Ashido scored. But after drinking plenty of water, his strength was slowly coming back to him as the class went on to the fifth test, the Softball Throw.

Bakugo stepped to the side since he had already done the test and was preparing for the next one after this. Mr. Aizawa called Tokoyami and threw the ball to him and the dark spirit within him caught it.

Niko crossed his arms. "This should be interesting. His Quirk seems very powerful."

Tsu was standing next to him at the moment. "Hmm...the bird guy and his Darkness...partner?"

Ashido giggled. "Is that what you're calling it, Tsu?"

"What would you call it?"

The pink girl was silent. "Oh...um...well, you know those old cartoons where there's an angel and a devil on someone's shoulder when they're trying to make a moral decision? Maybe it's like the devil."

"But it doesn't look evil, Mina. Look."

The three of them watched as Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, the spirit's name apparently, wind up and extend ten feet forward before at last throwing the ball.

Mr. Aizawa's phone beeped. "654 meters."

Tokoyami bowed before returning to the group of students. He stopped before Tsu, Ashido, and Niko, turning to them. "Think of Dark Shadow as a representation of my spiritual balance, Yin and Yang. Dark Shadow represents my Yang and my Quirk allows me to use my Yang to do whatever I desire."

Tokoyami walked past them and went to the back of the group to be alone.

The three of them said nothing, surprised that the brooding boy heard them talking about him. It was broken only by Ashido's expressiveness. "So I was right!"

"Uraraka!"

The rosy cheeked girl stepped forward as Ashido danced in place while Tsu blankly stared at her. Niko chuckled until he saw Uraraka toss the ball at a perfect diagonal line from the ground. "That's not gonna stop."

Ashido blinked. "What do you mean? It has to come down eventually."

Tsu put her finger to her lips. "Not so with Uraraka's Quirk. Since she applied force to an object with zero gravity, it can't be stopped so her score would be…"

Mr. Aizawa held up his phone that just read ∞.

"INFINITY!?" The class roared.

Tsu put her finger down. "Gero."

Uraraka returned to the group with a skip in her step. As she joined her friends Iida and Midoriya, it became apparent just how nervous the green haired boy was. He was biting his lip and sweating bullets.

"Midoriya."

He gulped and walked forward.

Iida eyed his friend, concerned. "Midoriya is not doing very well."

Bakugo snorted. "Well duh! He's a Quirkless failure!"

Iida raised his eyebrows. "Quirkless? So you haven't heard about his feats during the practical?"

Midoriya stood still for almost a minute, gathering himself. The class waited for him to make his throw. For a split second, Niko could have sworn he saw the plain looking boy's arm glow before he tossed his ball.

"46 meters."

Midoriya looked horrified. "Huh!? But I...I was trying to use it!"

"I erased your Quirk."

Midoriya turned around to see Mr. Aizawa comb his hair back, staring at him with tired red eyes. "What? But-"

"That ridiculous entrance exam...it's completely irrational when you consider that someone like YOU made it in!"

Sero scratched his head. "Erased? I don't know any Pro Heroes with that kind of power, do you?" Kaminari shrugged and Hagakure shook her head.

"Your Quirk," Midoriya began, "there's a Pro who works behind the scenes because he hates the media and who could nullify Quirks just by looking at the person. You're the Erasure Hero, Eraser Head!"

Mr. Aizawa's clothing seemed to come to life as his gray scarf floated off his body and ensnared Midoriya, pulling him closer to him. The two of them spoke quietly, making sure the entire class couldn't hear them. After a few moments, Mr. Aizawa released him from his bindings.

Iida watched Midoriya with interest. "It seems he received some special instruction."

"Pfff! Yeah, the instruction to leave the school." Iida ignored Bakugo's remark.

The class watched as Midoriya muttered to himself while staring at the softball in his hands. Ashido glanced to Niko. "Think he'll be the one cut from the class?"

He didn't answer her. Whether Bakugo said so or not, Midoriya had to have some sort of Quirk. He wouldn't have passed the practical without it. He glanced over to Hagakure. _"Though, that makes wonder how she managed to pass to the test as well. Unless she's some kind of ninja with her invisibility."_

Midoriya wound back his arm. It started to glow again, only this time, it shot right up into his hand and flashed.

 _WHOOOSH!_

The ball thrusted from his hand and into the air. Midoriya flinched in pain.

"Mr. Aizawa...I can still move." Midoriya, his face scrunched up and his finger swollen, stared defiantly at his teacher, leaving him speechless. His phone beeped, saying 703 meters.

Uraraka cheered. "Wow! Now that's a Hero-like record if I ever saw one!"

Niko nodded. "That...was impressive."

"Guess he might make the cut..." Ashido wondered.

Everyone seemed impressed with Midoriya's display of power. All except Bakugo. His eye twitched and he ran straight towards him.

"DEKU!"

* * *

 **BigBossofMoss: I was gonna go further but this was getting long. The pacing for this will be like eating a sweet cheesecake. I wanna make the character interactions as natural as possible to fill out the default story we all know and love. Please review.**


	5. Upgrade

**BigBossofMoss: Hey, everyone. Hope you guys had a great Mother's Day. I got some interest in this story so I wanna thank everyone who favorited or followed Star Light. Please review, I would love to improve and I would love constructive feedback.**

* * *

"DEKU!"

Midoriya's eyes bugged out as Bakugo dashed towards him. "K-Kacchan!"

"What the hell?! Explain yourself, Deku!"

Gray cloth hooked around Bakugo's arm and leg, immobilizing him. Even stopped cold in his tracks, the angry blonde struggled, his hands making small explosions before ceasing entirely. "What the...this cloth is stiff."

"It's a 'capture' weapon of my own design. It's made of carbon fibers and a special shape memory alloy wire."

Bakugo and Midoriya turned, the former still struggling, to see Mr. Aizawa holding his special capture scarf. He looked more annoyed than angry. "Stop using your Quirk. You're giving me dry eye over here."

Bakugo closed his eyes and stopped moving. Aizawa's scarf retracted. Niko saw him very quickly apply eye drops before walking off.

"Let's prepare for the next event."

* * *

The rest of the tests were uneventful with the exception of the Toe Touching stretch where Sero comfortably won without really trying.

After the eight tests, Mr. Aizawa had everyone gathered around an LED monitor. "Moving along, time for the results. Your total scores simply reflect your performance in each of the events. Showing off each students score one at a time would be a waste of time, so I'll be showing all of your grades here."

 _Click!_

Niko glanced over the list. "Hmm...14. About as much as I thought I'd get."

" _Glad I didn't get last though."_

His eyes scanned the screen until they reached the bottom. "Izuku Midoriya." He turned towards the boy in question to see his eyes averted from everyone, looking down at his shoes.

"...Also I was lying about the whole expulsion thing."

"HUH?!" The class erupted.

The eraser Hero grinned. "It was just a rational deception meant to bring out the best in all of you!"

"WHHHHHAAAAAAAT!?"

Yaoyorozu was the only one not surprised. "Well of course it was a lie. Didn't take much to figure it out."

"Anyway, we're done here. Go hit the showers. Your documents about the curriculum and such will be in the back of the classroom. Give them a look."

Mr. Aizawa walked towards the only kid seriously injured during the tests. "Midoriya. Have Recovery Girl fix you up. Tomorrow's trials aren't going to be easier."

Mr. Aizawa walked off and the other students shrugged before going back inside the school. Kirishima pounded his fist against his hands. "Now that we know aren't going to be expelled, this whole Quirk Apprehension Test was pretty fun!"

Kaminari drooped a bit. "Easy for you to say, Number 8." He sighed. "My heart still won't stop pounding."

Ashido pushed her way between them. "Is that nerves or are you just THAT wiped out?"

"Probably both."

The boys and girls separated as they each went into their locker rooms. Niko waited by the entrance causing Sero to stop. "You waiting on someone?"

"Just keeping an eye out."

Sero was about to inquire further but stopped as he saw Mineta being slapped by one of the quieter girls in the class, Jiro, for trying to casually walk into the girl's locker room.

She pushed him away and eyed both Niko and Sero. "Keep an eye on him Laser Brain and Tapeworm."

She went in and Mineta walked past Sero and Niko mumbling curses to himself. Sero started chuckling. "That name is gonna stick for sure."

Niko shrugged. "Could be worse. It could be Tapeworm."

Sero rolled his eyes before heading inside.

"Sutaraito."

Right before following Sero in, Niko turned around to see Mr. Aizawa. He was confused. "Did...did you need something, Sensi?"

"I took special note of your Quirk during the tests. What was your Quirk classified as?"

Niko stiffened. "Um...s-star light. I, uh...I can radiate and focus lightwaves."

"Radiate you say? I thought so. And those gloves you're wearing. You had them registered with the school, do you?"

"Um...yes. I had to if I wanted to apply to UA."

"They're lead-lined?"

Niko saw where this was going. "Of course, sir. I know how dangerous my power can be and…" He stopped when he was handed a piece of paper. "What's this?"

"A receipt. The panel of judges noticed the above average radiation levels during the Practice Exam and I was able to witness it first hand during your Quirk Apprehension Exams. Your gloves, though designed with good intentions, are insufficient when you unleash your Quirk at full blast. You never used that much energy at one time before, have you?"

Niko said nothing. He clenched his fingers, noticing how thin the material of his gloves were. "Y-You're not going to expel me for endangering the lives of my classmates?"

"Though the faculty were reluctant to include you, you did prove yourself in the entrance exam. The Principal also added that it was the responsibility of UA to help all students control their Quirks and help them to exceed their full potential." Mr. Aizawa glanced back down at the receipt he handed Niko. "So, an order was placed for custom Support equipment to replace those old gloves of yours. You are to wear the equipment at all times even when not using your Quirk."

Niko bowed. "Yes, sir. I will."

"Good. Go pick them up after you change."

And with that, Mr. Aizawa walked off leaving Niko very disheveled. He glanced down at his receipt. "Pick up from Mr. Maijima, aka Power Loader."

* * *

The Development Studio. The start of all promising students enrolled in the Support course and the very core of innovation at UA. From what he remembered hearing about in junior high, each of the Support classes would use Power Loader's workshop to plan, draw up, and build just for the sake of creating in an effort to improve one's innovative skills. If something doesn't work or falls short of expectations, go back and try again.

Niko opened the door to the workshop. Many students were at work, wielding, smelting, or constructing unusual bits and bobs. At the far end of the room, Niko saw a middle aged skinny man with dirty blonde hair.

"For the last time, keep your stuff off the floor, I already tripped on two of your so called 'babies' already today."

He was lecturing a pink-haired girl with large goggles on. "I'll do my best but I just figured out a probable solution to combat propulsion stalling for my jetpack when it gets below freezing! I had to stop what I was doing right away before the idea left my head so I had to update my schematics and then wouldn't you know it, hydraulic defenses, Mr. Maijima! The perfect way to-"

"Enough Hatsume." Mr. Maijima looked exhausted just from listening to her. "Just...be more aware of your surroundings. That's all I ask."

"Yes, Sensei!"

Hatsume went back to working. Niko cleared his throat. "Um...are you the Pro Hero Power Loader? Mr. Aizawa sent me."

Mr. Maijima turned towards him. "Hmm, oh yes. Shota said you would be coming. Please, come this way."

Niko followed the Support teacher, passing by Hatsume, who was talking to herself as she soldered. Mr. Maijima unlocked his office. "You must have put on one heck of a light show during your Quirk Apprehension Test if Shota told you to come to me right away."

He rummaged through a couple of things, leaving Niko a bit speechless. "I...um, may have over did it during the Long Jump. I modified these gloves to filter any radiation I emit when using my Quirk but...I guess I didn't take into account that much energy at one time."

Mr. Maijima looked up. "Really? Let me get a closer look at these. May I?"

Niko slipped off one of his gloves and handed it to Power Loader, who equipped what looked like microscope goggles. "Hmm, lead fibers interwoven into the leather of the original glove. Not bad for a beginner but you should know that lead is a very brittle metal. How often do pairs crumble apart?"

"About once a month. I actually almost applied to the Support course before changing at the last minute."

"Oh? What made you change your mind?"

"I…" Niko began but stopped himself. "It's complicated."

Mr. Maijima handed back his glove. "Judging by your handy work there, you have potential. But I'm glad you've joined the Hero Course."

Niko blinked. "Why is that?"

Mr. Maijima smiled. "Because designing support items with your Star Light Quirk in mind opens up unique possibilities only for you." He placed two metallic gauntlets on his desk. "The energy you emit means I don't have to compartmentalize power options."

Niko reached out and ran his fingers down one of the gauntlets. It was sleek.

Mr. Maijima smirked. "I trust it is to your liking. They'll be some room for customization. Especially after you take them for a test run during your Battle Trial tomorrow."

"Battle Trial."

Mr. Maijima eyes widened. "Er...forget I said that. Please try them on. I want to make sure they fit."

Niko slipped on the left one first. The gauntlet itself went up to his elbow. He felt comfy leather on the inside and was able to bend all of his fingers with almost no problem at all. "It feels great. Like I'm wearing nothing at all."

"Support prides itself on providing the best equipment for heroes. Now, the gauntlets improve on suppressing any radiation you involuntarily fire out. They also wirelessly connect to an item that was added last minute to your Hero costume that will assist you when firing focused blasts."

"Hero Costume?"

Mr. Maijima sighed. "Dammit, I was never good with secrets. Just... before you leave, I need you to test it out. Come with me."

They exited his office and the two of them walked past the students working to a target pavillion. "That target map there," Mr. Maijima pointed, "is 100 meters away."

Niko lifted his arm and opened up his hand. Before he could fire a shot, Power Loader stopped him. "The gauntlets were made to help you focus your power. Do a test shot...with only your finger."

Niko nodded and pointed at the bullseye.

 _Pew!_

A single shot lit up the area and singed the left of the target mat. Niko sighed.

Mr. Maijima made a face. "The added weight of your new support items probably affected your aim. You'll have to practice. On the bright side…" He walked up to the target map, measuring the rads. He smiled back at him. "No more radiation than what a typical cell phone gives off."

"That...was awesome!"

Mr. Maijima face palmed and Niko turned around to see Hatsume eyeing his new support items. "Eh...thanks?"

The girl moved quickly, running her hands down his arms. "Your light power could make building items a breeze. You have to let me build additional items for you. Maybe some jet boots or even a belly button belt or-"

"Enough." Mr. Maijima separated the two of them and turned to Hatsume. "Sutaraito came here just for the gauntlets. If he however wants adjusts to them, I give you full permission, if that's alright with him."

Niko nodded causing the inventor girl to freak out. He held up his hands. "But...not now. I'll call you, okay."

Hatsume visibly deflated.

* * *

Niko gave an abridged story to his classmates regarding his new Support items. While Iida initially lectured him on exposing the class to his "cosmic radiation," the rest of class more or less shrugged him off.

Finally, the last bell rang and the first day of UA ended. Niko picked up his bag and misjudged his strength. It swung around, nearly hitting Ashido in the head.

She leaned back, reflexively. "Watch it, buddy or next time you'll be out cold on the ground."

Niko glanced to his arm and back to her. "I'm sorry. I just...thought my bag was heavier. Um…" He fidgeted. "I'll...uh, see you tomorrow."

He almost ran out of the classroom. He walked a brisk pace as his mind raced back to what just happened. The bag weighed the same as it did the morning he brought it here. So what just happened. He glanced down at his new metallic arms. Could these things have enhanced his strength? It was the only explanation he had. He would have to text that Mei Hatsume girl to do some troubleshooting on what other...passive abilities these things provided.

"Hey, Laser Brain!"

Niko turned around and saw Sero running towards him. When he got to him, he was out of breath, his hands on his knees. "Man, that Quirk Apprehension really tired me out." He looked up at Niko. "You alright, you kinda hauled ass out of there after nearly clocking Ashido.

"I didn't. I mean," The words weren't coming out of him. He stopped for a moment and began again. "I didn't mean to hit her. It was...these things. I'm not used to them yet." Niko held his arm up, moving fingers one after the other.

The two of them exited the main building as Sero watched his right arm. "I'm sure you'll get used to them eventually. Besides...I think they look really cool."

Niko put his arm down. He had to admit he was right. These put his old gloves to shame. They reached the gate to the school as the two of them walked towards the train station.

"Oh, don't worry, Mina's not mad at ya!"

Both Sero and Niko jumped as Hagakure spoke up loudly from behind them. She immediately noticed and became self conscious. "I'm so sorry. Sneaking has become second nature to me that I often do it to people without realizing."

Niko's heart thumped. "It's alright. It's…" A realization came over him. "It's like what I just did. Not realizing the full extent of my abilities."

He couldn't be a 100% sure but he had a feeling Hagakure was smiling right now. The three of them walked to the train station, making conversation along the way. Niko glanced around to see others exiting behind him. He saw Midoriya and Iida together. Jiro poking Kaminari with her eye bud lopes while Yaoyorozu suppressed a laugh. All the while he figuratively stepped back and took in his first day of school at UA and all the new friends he had just made.

Maybe socializing wasn't as hard as he thought it was.

* * *

 **BigBossofMoss: Can't wait to introduce what Niko's Hero Costume is in the next chapter. Please review.**


	6. Costumes

**BigBossofMoss: Wow, really getting some traction with this story. Sorry about updates coming slower. School comes first.**

 **TrAfAlGaRIAwSgUrL27: Thanks, I think it's a great idea too.**

 **Guest: Well, here's the next chapter. lol**

 **Eavise: Here is more!**

* * *

 _The alarm started to blare again. Niko looked off to the side to see part of the cockpit catching fire._

" _Sutaraito, there's a massive buildup of heat in the cockpit, please respond!"_

" _There's...fire!" He struggles to free himself from his chair, the belts holding him fastened into place. He points a finger at his left side and fires a focused beam, slowly cutting him loose as the spaceship began to tremble violently._

 _The fire spread quickly. Niko opened the lockbox where the extinguisher was and sprayed. He frantically spread it across the entire fire but it had the opposite effect, feeding the fire as it spread further and further in the cockpit._

 _He coughed, struggling to breath. He slammed the extinguisher down in frustration as the fire consumed him. As it burned his flesh, he eyed the hatch, clawing at it and wishing for a fast death than a slow one. His hands burning, he struggled to turn the hatch but it would not budge. He stood back, and fired with all of his might at the door, blowing it off and being sucked out into the vacuum of space._

* * *

Niko woke up in a sweat. He threw his blanket off him and started pacing around his room. The nightmare returned. It felt more real this time around too. The feeling of helplessness; of death coming at him no matter what he did.

His breathing started to calm down and he tried to collect himself. He glanced over to his bedside clock. Ten minutes before his alarm. He turned it off and started getting ready for school.

* * *

The second day of Hero school was...oddly normal. Niko had met back up with Sero and Hagakure before entering English class with their teacher Present Mic. They sat together in a room that was more of a lecture hall than a classroom as each of their classmates came in one by one for what looked to be...a regular class of English.

When Ashido came in, Niko instantly remembered what happened between them yesterday. He stood up. "Uh, Ashido. I wanted to say I'm sorry for...almost whacking ya with my bag."

"Say no more, Light Brite. I knew it was an accident. Besides…" The pink girl began to smirk, "I'll be getting you back for it eventually~" She let that hang for a moment, glaring but still smirking at him before turning her head towards the frog girl. "TSU! Great to see you."

She ran to take her seat next to the girl while Niko kept standing up like an idiot. What just...what just happened? He turned to Hagakure, who was also sitting next to Tsu but she giggled and shrugged her shoulders. She had told him yesterday that Ashido was cool with him but...

Sero reached up and pulled him down from his thoughts. Niko straightened himself out as Present Mic began their...English lesson.

This was...too normal. He shouldn't be too surprised. Hero school or not, it was still a school and they were required to learn basic subjects. Still, after just ten minutes of this, he could feel his brain start to tune out whatever Present Mic was trying to get across. If it was math or science, he would have his full attention. But non practical subjects like English? History? Nope. He couldn't take it.

And he wasn't the only one. He glanced around to see almost all of the class either doodling, staring off into space, or in the cause of Kaminari, falling asleep while still sitting up. The only one who was actively paying attention was Yaoyoroza. He watched the fast movement of her pen writing notes and instantly felt a little self-conscious about his lack of effort.

Present Mic sensed the lack of energy in the class. "Alright, everybody! I know it's early in the day but who in here can show me some spirit and answer this English question!?"

The entire class was silent.

* * *

"More."

Sero took a step back, accidently bumping into Sato who was also staring as Niko shoveled bowl after bowl of rice into his mouth.

Niko stopped for a moment to take a gulp of water before going back to his third bowl.

Sero and Sato exchanged weirded out glances before Tapeman spoke up. "You're still not full, Sutaraito?"

Niko shook his head. "Nope. I burn through energy really quickly because my metabolism is very high." He grabbed his fourth bowl of rice and kept eating.

Hagakure sat down with her lunch next to Niko. "Wow, you eat almost as much as Yaoyoroza." Hagakure pointed over to the creation girl in question who had just finished her 5th bowl of rice.

"Wow," Niko said as he watched the girl eat. "Her Quirk is probably dependent on energy too."

Hagakure tilted her head. "You're Quirk runs on food?"

Sero stepped in. "No, no, don't you guys remember seeing him after the Long Jump test yesterday. Sutaraito was just exhausted, so exhausted that he couldn't do the Side-Step test at all and finished last."

Niko winced.

Sato put his hand under his chin, thinking. "Firing that energy blast must have drained any sort of energy you had in you. You're Quirk's a double edged sword, kinda like mine."

Sato dumped a case of sugar cubes on the table. "I can gain a lot of strength really quickly after eating sugar but at the cost of a lot of my brain power."

Sero rubbed his neck. "W-well don't forget guys. The reason we're here is to become Pro Heroes. That means probably making our Quirks better."

Hagakure piped up. "That reminds me! I overheard what kind of lesson we're having after lunch."

The three boys looked at her curiously. Sato broke their silence. "Well...what is it then?"

"Nope! I'm sworn to secrecy after I was..um…" Hagakure fidgeted, "...after I was caught by Mr. Aizawa."

Niko thought back to the day before, when Power Loader referred to something called a Battle Trial. He glanced back to Hagakure who was trying her best to change the subject.

* * *

"I…"

The entire class perked up.

"AM…"

Everyone glanced towards the door.

"HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

The "Symbol of Peace" himself, had come through wearing his trademark Silver Age Hero costume. The students were transfixed, the rumors that the greatest hero in the world would be teaching at UA seemed to be true.

Kaminari raised his hand but out of sheer excitement, spoke up before being called upon. "All Might, you'll be teaching Hero Basic Training?!"

Hagakure snickered.

"YES!" All Might replied, his smile never leaving his face. "This is the class that will put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes!"

Tsu raised her hand but unlike Kaminari, waited until she was called upon.

All Might pointed at her. "Yes young...uhhhh…" He took out a small journal and flipped through the tiny pages. "Young, Asui!"

Ashido giggled but Tsu ignored her. "Yes, sir. What will we be doing?"

"BATTLE TRAINING, YOUNG ASUI!" All Might roared!

Bakugo perked up, his eyes flaring. "Battle...Training?"

Midoriya heard the rude blonde whisper and it sent a shiver down his spine.

"AND FOR TODAY'S EXERCISE," All Might clicked a remote, "YOU ARE GOING TO NEED THESE…"

Out of the wall, large containers emerged, each with a number 1 through 20.

"In accordance with the 'Quirk registry' and the special request forms you filled out before being admitted, these have all been designed just for you!"

"Costumes!" Kirishima yelled!

All Might nodded. "Yes! Now, go change into your costumes and meet me at Ground Beta!"

"YES, SENSEI!"

* * *

"Whoa, metal legs too?" Sero exclaimed, looking over Niko's costume.

"Kinda, they're just fancy boots." Niko slipped metal looking boots and tucked in his green pant legs into each one. "I like yours. You look like some kind of Power Ranger."

Sero chuckled. "What can I say?" Sero put on his helmet and his voice got electrical. "I was a fan of old school Sentai shows as a kid."

"Yeah, well I based my costume off an old video game." Niko tied a short red scarf around his neck and slipped on a tan jacket. "Also goes with my love of space even if…" Niko stopped, glancing into his costume case.

Sero tipped his head to the side. "Is something missing?"

"No, there's something else here." Niko took out a small box with small note attached to it.

 _Keep Focus and aim for the Stars,_

 _Power Loader_

Was this the item Mr. Maijima was referring to yesterday? Niko opened the box and Sero reacted before he could.

"A scouter! Your Hero Costume has a freaking scouter!"

"I don't think that's what it really-"

"Whoa, that totally is a scouter!" Kaminari butted in. "I didn't know you a fan of that old Dragon Ball anime?"

"It's not, I mean, it was a good show, but I didn't design this part-"

"It's better than my radio transceiver. If I could measure the power levels of people just by looking at them. Try it out on me! Right now!"

I…" Niko began but at this point everyone in the boy's locker room was looking at him. He sighed and equipped the device over his ear, covering his right eye.

"Come on! What's my 'Power Level?!'"

The device whirled to life. Instead of numbers, target reticles flashed over every person in the locker room. Each reticle was a different color from the rest ranging from blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Niko blinked, his eye not used to the device yet. "No numbers, just colors."

Kaminari deflated as Sero picked up the note in Niko's case. "That's laaaame." The electric blonde walked away.

Sero glanced over the note. "What kind of colors did you see because each one has something to do with how...threatening something is."

Niko looked over the note with each color representing a "Quirk threat indicator" with a range from 1 to 9999.

Sero smiled. "So...it IS a scouter."

Niko sighed again. "Alright...so it's a scouter." Niko closed up his case and put in his locker.

"So...what's MY power level?"

Niko stiffened. "Uh...I would rather not say."

"Aww, why not!" Sero ran in front of them as they walked out of the locker room.

"Let's just say, shooting tape is not the most...threatening Quirk."

Sero drooped. "Oh…"

"Sorry, man." Niko patted him on the back.

"No, I get it. But…" Sero lowered his voice. "For curiosity sake, just out of the guys, who was the most powerful?"

"Aside from me?" Niko laughed and thought back to it. "Kaminari, that ice guy, Bakugo, and...Midoriya."

Sero laughed, not taking the last one seriously as they walked through a dark tunnel to the Ground Beta. The two of them could tell there were other students grouped up near the end of the tunnel but could not see them due to the darkness.

All they could hear was the confident voice of their teacher, All Might.

"Look alive now! Because as of today...you're all heroes!"

Everyone walked into the light and Niko was able to get a look at everyone's costumes at once.

Sato's bright yellow costume stood out first for it's color for and for how large the guy was. The ice guy...Todoroki's own ice covered half of his body, and Iida's mech suit drew the most oohs and ahhs from the class.

As for the girls, Yaoyoroza's leotard showed a lot of skin and left little to the imagination. Niko glanced away. In fact, most of the girls Hero costumes left little to the imagination.

"Guhhhhh…" He glanced down to see Mineta literally drooling.

"Jeez, try not to stare, man."

Mineta ignored him. "The Hero course is the best!"

 _Smack!_

Mineta's eyes bug out before falling to the floor after a floating glove slapped him.

Niko blinked and it took him a second to realize what happened. Then he started blushing. "Hagakure?!"

"Yep! Like my costume!? Keeps me light on my feet and it maximizes stealth!"

Niko's scouter beeped, recognizing Hagakure's Quirk. He tried to gather his words. "Um...well, it certainly...inconspicuous." Memories of the practical test come back to him and he feels his whole body heat up.

All Might waited until everyone arrived before going over the lesson. The last one arriving ended up being Midoriya, who was wearing what looked like bunny footie pajamas.

But before All Might could begin…

"Sensei!" Everyone in the class turned to the mech suit that was Iida. "This appears to be the same field that was used for the Practical Exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?"

All Might shook his head. "Nope! You'll be moving onto Step 2; Indoor Anti-Personnel Battle Training! Villain Battles are most commonly seen outside but statistically, the most heinous Villains are likely to appear indoors."

The class murmured in agreement. It made sense.

"Between confinement, house arrest, and black market deals. The cleverest Villains out there...lurk indoors. For this exercise, you will be split into Villain and Hero Teams and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"

Tsu put her finger to her mouth. "So no basic training?"

"Practical experience teaches you the basics! The distinction here is that you won't be fighting disposable robots.

Multiple people in the class spoke out, asking questions.

"What determines victory?" Yaoyoroza asked.

"Can I just blast everyone away?" Bakugo yelled.

"Are you threatening to expel someone, like Mr. Aizawa did?" Uraraka peeped.

"How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?" Iida inquired.

"Why does everyone think this thing is a scouter?" Niko whispered.

All Might's face scrunched up, his frustration peaking. "One at a time...my Quirk isn't super hearing." He tried to subtly bring out his little notebook from before. "Right...so here's the deal. The Villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in their hideout. And the Heroes have to go in and retreive it. The Heroes will have a limited amount of time to either capture the Villains or retrieve the weapon. The Villains must capture the Heroes or protect the weapon until time is up. Your Battle Partners will be decided by drawing lots."

"Is that really the best way?!" Iida spoke up again.

"No, it makes sense." Midoriya began. "Because Heroes oftentimes have to team up with other Heroes from other agencies on the spot."

"I see…" Iida bowed. "I apologize for the interruption."

"It's fine! Let's just get to it!" All Might yelled.

 _Midoriya & Uraraka Team A_

 _Todoroki & Shoji Team B_

 _Mineta & Yaoyoroza Team C_

 _Iida & Bakugo Team D_

 _Ashido & Sutaraito Team E_

 _Koda & Sato Team F_

 _Kaminari & Jiro Team G_

 _Asui & Tokoyami Team H _

_Ojiro & Hagakure Team I_

 _Sero & Kirishima Team J_

"So…looks like we're partners, Ashido."

Ashido flashed a wicked smile. "Yep...let's unleash hell on our opponents."

"Moving on…" All Might put his hands in two boxes, one labeled Heroes, the other labeled Villains, first teams up are...Team A Heroes vs Team D Villains!"

"This should be interesting, given that Bakugo almost speared Midoriya yesterday." Ashido whispered.

All Might pointed towards the building in front of them. "The Villain Team goes in first. The timer starts in five minutes and afterwards, the Hero Team sneaks in. All reminding teams will watch what happens on CCTV below Ground Beta in a Central Control Room."

"That's good." Ashido looked at Niko. "We'll be able to see what each team does and learn what to do and what not to do."

Ashido didn't respond.

Niko glanced at her and sighed when he caught her staring at his face. "Yes...I'm wearing a scouter."

Ashido giggled. "Actually, I was wondering why you were wearing that red scarf."

He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, I don't make fun of your multicolored tye dye suit?"

"Kinda just did though."

"But she did remind me..." Sero butt in. "We kinda got distracted by your scouter that I never got around to asking about it."

"Come on, ya bunch of newbies!"

Sero, Ashido, Niko glanced back at the rest of the class who were already going downstairs to the CCR to watch the exercises.

Niko shrugged. "I'll tell you guys when we get there."

* * *

 **BigBossofMoss: It might be obvious, but I did base Niko's Hero costume on a video character's cloths. Try to guess and please review!**


End file.
